Overview

The detailed activities that follow help students write an authentic
diary/journal entry about an assigned historical event from the perspective of
an individual at the time. Students examine a forged historical entry and an
actual entry for evidence of the criteria for an authentic diary/journal.
Students then create a brief biography of an assumed character and write an
entry that involves an historical event, as seen through the eyes of this
character. Students critique each other's entries before submitting their final
drafts.

Care must be taken to ensure that diary/journal entries are respectful and do not express inappropriate generalizations or stereotyping.